+ With more women working full time than men, this article about selling to women is something that all companies and people in communications should be reading to tweak how they approach selling their products or services because there ARE stark differences in how to sell to women in the language that is used, and the visuals that attract women shoppers and decision makers.

+”GMO’s” could be one of those words that was one of the most popular words of 2016. It seemed to be a word that appeared everywhere this year in food marketing. The myths that exist out there are astounding and many foodie bloggers and food enthusiasts are jumping on the anti-GMO bandwagon without knowing the real facts. Twitter enthusiast Yvette known as Science Babe had her article on the 10 Bullsh*t arguments against GMOs published in Cosmopolitan.. take a read and make sure to share with friends!

+ A good reminder for those who are beginning to blog or are considering jumping into the online world and want to find their ‘thing.’ Their message “You Can’t Stand Out Until You Stand Up” is so true! Get going!

+I’m sure many millennials who read this article can relate to the idea of ‘chasing your dreams’ or ‘following your passions’ but what if you woke up one day like Jennifer did and asked yourself, ‘what are you ACTUALLY trying to follow?’

+Even though the US Election has come and gone, I love reading the aftermath and post-wraps of what people thought each campaign did right and wrong. Advertisers in the US are reflecting on how they collect data to reflect the consumers that is the American people considering the outcome of the November 8th election results. Fascinating stuff!

+Another read that could relate to the outcome we recently saw with the US election, this article discusses what role the media plays in the timely debate of the CEO gender gap. Findings from a small sample of media coverage found that the way in which CEOs are covered often has a direct impact on their success in office.

+This explains why I feel so relaxed and happy when I listen to music while working away on emails/blogging/project work etc. Let the feel-good neurotransmitters out!

+I recently tweeted (& slightly tweaked) the lyrics to a famous #JayZ line that say “I got 99 problems.. and negativity ain’t one of them.” Fellow blogger Jen shared this article from the Globe and Mail that speaks to the serious impacts that complaining and negativity has on your brain. Loved the line in the article, when comparing complaining to second-hand smoking, “If a person were smoking, would you sit there all afternoon inhaling the second-hand smoke?”

It has been a hard few days to comprehend what is taking place in the world right now. In whatever circles you run in, industry you work in or conversations you’ve had with family and friends, I’m sure the topic of conversation as of late, has mentioned either one of two things:

the state of the world

something you’ve seen or referenced on social media and how social media has played a role in reflecting the current state of our world

If you work in the agriculture-food industry as I do, one of the ‘topics of conversation’ in the last year has also been about the misinformation that exists when it comes to labeling and consumer knowledge of things such as genetically modified organisms (GMOs), gluten-free, hormones, use of antibiotics, etc.

As you can see, some of these decisions favourCanadian agriculture and food while other campaigns hinder.

In many of the conversations I’ve participated in, been privy too or watched transpire online relating to food and misinformation over the past year, one of the most common arguments in how we need to counter this misinformation with the use of science/facts to dispute the misconceptions.

How the industry needs to inform consumers with more facts, figures and logic. How the industry has to help consumers make more rational, well-informed and educated decisions in how they go about choosing their food. How we need to let the facts speak for the truth to counter misinformation that consumers have learned, grown up with, or heard from family, friends, society, etc.

After witnessing the 2016 US Presidential election and all that has transpired since, including this weekends devastating events, it has made me question that while we can believe that facts and figures should be used as the right tool to shape truth and change one’s opinion, what role does emotion play in all of this? Does emotion in fact outweigh science, facts, figures, logic and rationality?

Can you truly have a one-time conversation with someone and try and change their personal opinion on a matter with facts/figures? Or do we have to get to the heart or root of WHY their making that decision to understand that more often times then we’d like to acknowledge, emotion is what drives people’s decisions, thoughts and ideas, which would explain some of the events that are taking place currently in the world and influencing the conversation online and on social media.

Whether it is right or wrong, there is science that supports that emotion is what in fact what trumps science, facts, logic and rationality.

If this weekend has taught us anything (among so many other valuable life lessons), it would be that what appears ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ depends on the eye of the beholder and what their emotions are telling them is right or wrong in their world of views or beliefs.

This can be disheartening and hard to come to terms with, but its something for all of us to keep in mind as we communicate with our intended audiences, especially in the agriculture and food field.